Dixon, who was born in New Rochelle, turns 50 on Friday.
Maxwell Dixon, whose performance name is Grand Puba, is an emcee best known as a member of the group Brand Nubian from New Rochelle, was born March 4, 1966. He made his debut with the group Masters of Ceremony. Its album "Dynamite" (1988) was hailed by critics, but probably due to lack of sales, the group soon disbanded, and Puba emerged as the lead emcee of Brand Nubian. After their innovative and versatile debut album One for All (1990), Puba left the group after disputes with its other members and embarked on a solo career. He became a member of the group again around 1997, recording a few tracks for various soundtracks leading up to the full-length album Foundation in '98.
In 2009, Grand Puba released his fourth solo album, Retroactive, featuring production from hip-hop veterans like Q-Tip, Large Professor, Kid Capri as well as his fellow Brand Nubians. Puba also appeared on the heavy posse cut "Fresh" together with Cormega, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, DJ Red Alert and Parrish Smith of EPMD.
Click here to follow Daily Voice New Rochelle and receive free news updates.